246 
February 10, l!»18 
Sr/ie RURAL Wi2W-YORKER 
Doing Our Bit Along Sugctr Lines 
After standing in a city grocery and 
listening to tlie plea of ciistoniers for 
one i)oiind of sugar, and being told by tlie 
i.-autioiis dealer that a half i)ound would' 
be all he could allow each for several 
days to come, niy mind went back to the 
good old IMiritan days Avhen cane suga)-, 
too, was a i)recious luxury, 10 pounds 
lasting a thrifty family a whole yea)-. 
Hut this did not sup|)ly our foi'(d)ear.s all 
the sweetening used in a household, ^\'v 
Americans have the rejuitation of being 
the lai'gest confection consiimers in the 
world, 'but w(! did not acijuire our “sweet 
tooth” in one or two genei-aticms; our 
forefathers wei-e boin with it, too, and 
sweets they had in some foi-m or other. 
Fi-om the woods e.-ich year came a de¬ 
lectable .supply of Avild lioney, gathered 
every wliej’e fi'om hollow tree ti-unks; 
then there was the sweet product of the 
sugai- niaj)lcs. Though imdliods and nt(‘n- 
sils wei-e crude, making the jn-ocess of ma- 
|d(“-sugai- making slow and laborious, each 
Spring found the farmer ready to lay in 
his supidy of maple sweets for the year, 
(billons of rich, thick syruii, crocks of 
stirred sugar, and rows of glistening 
brown cakes, big and little, round and 
s(iuare, for molds were scarce, and bowls, 
liaking-tins, or whatever could be brought 
into use on sugaring-off days, was utilized. 
To be sure, the color, grain and flavoring 
was not .so fine as we have today, but the 
sweetening was there in such (juantities 
that it might well be the envy of the mod- 
ei’ii housewife. 
While maple sugar is still a domestic 
product in some localities, it is not nuuh' 
to the extent it once wa.s. This may be 
partly due to forest fires, and the cutting 
down of the sugar maples without replac¬ 
ing or allowing a young tree to grow up 
again from the old i-oots, but (he prin¬ 
cipal cause is (hat (he sugar of the re¬ 
finers has become so abundant, cheap and 
easy to get that the farmer with a few 
trees has not thought it worth Avhile. 
Only in sections where there are large 
orchards is (he product considered Avorth 
the expense and labor of producing. Here 
the e(|uij>ments ari' of the latest inA'en- 
tion, and both the syru|) and sugar are 
made in large (piandties for the market, 
where it is sold more as a confection than 
a domestic commodity, 'bringing three or 
four times as much as the ordinary sugar 
of commerce. 
Since (he laws of health demand that 
every healthy individual have a certain 
amount of sugar in some form in his daily 
diet, if the present .scarcity of sugar con¬ 
tinues, will not our bodies suffei- from its 
lack? Arc the small farmers Avho have 
plenty of sugar maples scattered over 
lludr iiremi.si's not going to do their bit 
(his Spring in supplying, not only their 
own household Avith this useful <-ommod- 
ily, but other households that are unable 
to supply themselves wi(h it? One nei-d 
not 'buy an exiicnsive outfit and still not 
go back to primKive days. Any hardware 
dealer can supply you with the neisled 
articles for carrying on this Avork in a 
small Avay at a .slight cost. Hut suppo.se 
you did use the .same old-fashioned meth¬ 
ods your grandfathers used, if there are 
half-groAvn boys and gilds in the hou.se- 
hold they aamII enjoy the gypsy sugar camp 
far more than the modern sugai- house 
with its expensive equipments. The Avriter 
has tasted, not only the sweets of sugar- 
ing-ofT in an old-time sugar camp, but 
the joys of being one of the hel])ers. 
trudging over snowy Avood paths, slipjiing 
down icy .slopi's, and siiijiing tin* chair, 
sweet saj) as it dripjied from the end of 
long elder-wood sjiiles. 
It did not take the first sugar-makers 
long to build a sugar camp. A small log 
or a large sapling Avas placed on the 
<‘nds of forked jiosts, set in the ground 
for the jiurpo.se, the great cauldron ket¬ 
tle Ava.s susiiended from this by a log 
chain, and a fire of hardwood made' be¬ 
neath it. Hen* the sail wa.s carried, 
stored in barrels, and evaporated in the 
big ki'ttle until a siiflicient (piantity of 
syrup for linisliiiig olT was gained, 'fliis 
was usually taken into (he house and the 
housewife, with the hell) of the younger 
members of the household, made it up 
into syrup or sugar. Right merry times 
they had. too, on siigaring-olT^d.ays; sleigh 
loads of rollicking youngsters were often 
iiiA'ited from other coinmiinities to help 
on I these bcca.sioljs and to eat their fill of 
the SAveets. Xooiie Avas heard to com- 
jilain of the hard Avork, not even the boy 
who .stayed up all night to. keej) the fire 
going under the great kettle. ■ and the 
syrup from .si'orchijig. 
If you have only a fcAV trees and these 
are near (he house, the sap can be brought 
Avhole outfit in readine.ss for the first 
‘‘run.” A shelter can be (]uickly juit up 
after the arch has been built, by driving 
four good-sized posts, six or seven feet in 
length, in the ground, forming a .square 
around the arch, allowing at lea.st three 
feet of S])acc on each side, and five or six 
in front’of the evaporator. Smaller posts 
or projis set between these help to support 
the siding. This may be of rough boards, 
or hemlock boughs, thickly oA'crlapping 
one another, make an excellent siibstiliite 
for boards, '^riie ro^if should be either of 
boards or a metal one. 
The usual method for hauling tin* sap 
from the trees to the evaporator is the 
Hauling Maple Sap to the Camp 
in pails by hand, and the e\aporating ac¬ 
complished in a Summer kitchen or wash¬ 
house on an ordinary cook stove. A 
shalloAv sheet-iron pan, made to fit the 
top of the stove, could be u.sed both for 
the boiling down and sugaring-oir, but if 
thi're are from 100 to 200 trees to be 
tajiped, .some kind of a camp Avill be 
necessary. Any boy or gii-l use to out-of- 
door sports, or avIio have camped in the 
AA'oods during a Summer vacation, AVoiild 
enjoy building thi.s. 
Next to the gyiisy kettle, the cheaiiest 
and best method for evaporating the sap 
barrel or hogshead, fitt(*d Avith a funnel in 
one side and a faucet at one end, fastened 
securely on a sled, and drawn by horses 
or o.xen. Metal spiles or spouts are usu¬ 
ally u.sed for tapjiing the trees, and tin 
containers or biicki'ts fur receiving the sap 
as it flows from them. In olden days ex¬ 
cellent spiles Avere made from elder-wood 
boughs; a fireside industry during the 
long 'Winter eA’ening.s. Elder-Avood still 
jiossesses this utility (piality, and if one 
is only going to tap a feAV trees the spiles 
could be easily made from it, as of old. 
Huckets ni'ed not be bought, either; if 
An Inexpensive Sugar Camp at Work 
in a camp is in llm shi'et-iroii jians, made 
to fit an arch built for the luirimsi*, (‘ither 
of brick or stone, firmly cemented. This 
may be from three to four feet Avide, 
from eight to 12 feet long, and about 
three feet deei), and the pan from eight 
to JO inches deep. Iron stays support the 
Avails of the arch and serve to hold the 
pan securely; the liack ends Avith a flue 
and a brick or metal chimney. '^I'lie front 
of the arch can bi* fitted Avith a fire-door, 
or . piece of sheet-iron can be used. The 
sides or Avails of the arch must be of 
eipial hi'ight, and the pan set on a perfect 
l(‘vel, else the sap conci'ntrates unevenly, 
and there is a jiossibility of the .syru]) in 
the elevated end of (he pan scorching, not 
only spoiling the entire batch of syrup, 
but, ]H‘rha])S. luining (he jian. 
Seh'ct a leA*el spot for your camp, and 
build your arch,.some time before it is 
needed, and during good Aveatlier, if jios- 
sible ; this Avill alloAA’ the ci'ineiit to hard¬ 
en thoroughly, and also give you time to 
luiA'c you pan made to fit it, and your 
the homsewife has plenty of basins and 
jians, the.se can be used to catch the sap, 
the only objection to the smaller receiver 
is that it must be emptied often to pre¬ 
vent overfloAving and a Avaste of the sap. 
In camp there is ahvays needed some 
kind of a container for storing the .sap 
during the evaporating. Here again the 
barri'l or hogshead can take the iilace of 
(Continued on page 2111.) 
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&i| Machinor 
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